Drier and offset eliminator



Dec. 24, 1935. H. c. HAECKEL 2,25,507

DRIER AND OFFSET ELIMINATOR Filed Jan. 24, 1934 I 2 2m? m J5 1191?? 5 2221f jg if \.'-/4-- Patented Dec. 24, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates generally to driers and more particularly to driers for use in combination with printing presses.

In the operation of printing presses, the printed sheets, upon being printed, are generally stacked upon each other. The result is that even with the use of quick drying inks the print does not dry quick enough so that the backs or reverse sides of the sheets receive offsets or are smudged by the ink of the preceding sheet. This impairs the appearances of the sheets and is especially objectionable in case of circulars which are folded for mailing purposes. The use of quick drying ink or the case of dope in the ink to facilitate the drying does not entirely obviate these objectionable features but does increase considerably the cost of printing.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a device arranged adjacent to the printing press and comprising a plurality of horizontally disposed pans movable in a vertical or horizontal plane at a predetermined speed with respect to the press whereby each printed sheet is placed on a pan and dries during the cycle of movement of said pan and is discharged from said pan at suitable periods of the cycle of movement of the pan.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drier comprising a pair of spaced-apart endless chains and a plurality of horizontally disposed pans pivotally mounted on said chains in spaced-apart relationship whereby the matter to be dried is placed on said pans and is allowed to dry during the cycle of movement of each pan there being means provided for tilting each pan at the appropriate time during the cycle of movement thereof to discharge the dried material into a suitable container.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a drier of the class described and drying means arranged adjacent to the upper end thereof for acting upon said material and facilitating the drying thereof.

Still other objects of the invention are to provide an offset eliminator arranged adjacent to one side of a printing press and comprising a vertically disposed support, means journaled in the lower and upper ends thereof, respectively, for carrying a pair of spaced-apart sprocket chains, a plurality of horizontally disposed pans arranged in spaced-apart relationship, and each pivotally mounted at its sides to the links of the respective chains, means for driving said chains by the driving mechanism of said press and in a predetermined speed relationship therewith,

and means for engaging each pan just before the completion of its travel and tilting it to cause the material carried thereby to be discharged therefrom.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the drier.

Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevational view of the lower end thereof.

Figure 3 is an enlarged horizontal cross section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view showing the means for tilting the pan.

Figure 5 is'an enlarged cross sectional detail view showing means for pivotally suspending the pan on the links of the chains.

Figure 6 is an enlarged detail cross section takenon line 6-45 of Figure 3.

, Figure 7 is an enlarged cross section showing structural details of the support.

Figure 8 is an enlarged detail cross section of the driving connection.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing, Ill indicates a vertically disposed support comprising a pair of side frames II connected together at a number of points by horizontally disposed transverse members I2. Each side frame preferably consists of a pair of vertically disposed channel members I4, a base I5,

a top IE, and intermediate cross pieces I'I. The latter are preferably channel-shaped in cross section and are secured to vertical members I4 by angles I8. Each pair of cross pieces I! of the side frames II is connected together by one of the transverse members I2.

The base I5 preferably consists of channelshaped pieces and extends a suitable distance to each side of channel member I4. A gusset plate I9 is preferably secured to the outer flanges of the lower end of each vertical member I4 and the corresponding end of base I5.

A pair of axially aligned bearings 20 is secured to the lowermost cross pieces I! and a horizontally and transversely disposed'shaft 21 is journaled in said bearings. Similarly a pair of bearings 22 are secured to the uppermost cross pieces I! and carry a shaft 24. These shafts are preferably disposed centrally of support I 0 in the same vertical plane with each other. A pair of comparatively large sprocket wheels 25 is fixed to the lower shaft 2| and a pair of similar sprocket wheels 26 is secured to the upper shaft 24. 86

15 passes a given point.

provided at its sides with upwardly projecting box 36 arranged below V g-has one end extended outwardly from the bear- These sprocket wheels are arranged eachnear one end of the corresponding shaft and in a vertical plane with the corresponding wheel of the other shaft. Operating over each pair of vertically aligned wheels 25 and 26 is a sprocket chain from each aligned pair of pins 28 by means of bearings 29 is a pan 30. This pan is balanced so that it occupies normally horizontal position.

The material to be dried, in this case, the freshlyprinted sheet, is laid on each pan as it Each pan .is preferably flanges 3i and at its rear or inner end with a similar flange 32. The forward or outer end is open but may be provided on its underside with a downwardly projectingflange 34 for reinforcing portion travels downwardly. In this manner, the pans receiving the printed sheets move upwardly,

then over the upper shaft 24, and under an electric heater '35 conveniently located above said pans, and then downwardly on the other side of 3i) the support and under the lower shaft 2|. Just before the completion of the cycle of movement of the pan, the latter is tilted on its pivots 28 to cause the material carried thereby to be discharged into a suitable container in' an open .top the forward edge of said tilted pan.

Where the drier is'used to dry printed sheets,

this container is preferably in the form of the usual jogger box which is operated to align the 46 stacked sheets with each other;

The tilting means consists of a roller-31 revolubly disposed in the pathof the upwardly traveling. pans in such a manner that the edge of one of the upwardly presented side flanges '3 l is engaged near its forward end by said roller, thereby causing said. pan to tilt .on its pivots :28. When the forward end3|a of the flange 3| is carried past said roller, said pan resumes its normal horizontal position. This roller is revolubly mounted ,on one end of an arm 38 while the other end to displace roller 3! and move the latter from its operative position so as not to affect the pans.

' A horizontally disposed member 40 is attached 'to side members [4 and its outer end is forked so as to receive arm 38, while the latter isrnoved to ;-'bring the roller 31 in operative position. The ends of this forked portion are adapted to receive aremovable pin 4| which, when inserted in said apertures, closes said forked end and locks arm 38 against displacement.

When the drier is'used in conjunction with a printing press, a suitable driving connection is provided between a shaft 4| carrying the fly wheel 42 of the press and one of the shafts ofthe driers. Preferably the upper shaft 24 of the drier ing and fixed on said end is a worm gear (not shown). Meshing with this gear is a worm '45 fastened to a horizontal shaft 46 and disposed at mrigh t angle toshaft 24. This shaft 46 is fournaled in suitable bearings carried by the corresponding side frame ll.

One end of shaft 46 has secured thereto a sprocket wheel 41 over which operates the upper end of an endless sprocket chain 48. The lower end of this chain engages a sprocket wheel 49 which is loosely arranged on the projecting end of the fly wheel shaft 42. A manually operable clutching means 50 is also arranged on shaft 42 and serves to connect and disconnect the sprocket wheel 49 to and from said shaft, thereby permitting the operation of the press without actuating the drier.

The spacing of the pans 30 and the speed at which they move is so arranged that the sheets .dry before they are discharged from the drier and an empty pan moves in receiving position with each printing operation of the press. As

, the driving means of the drier is coupled with the actuating mechanism of the press it is obvious that when the-speed of the press is increased or reduced, the speed of the drier is effected accordingly. The electric circuit of .the electric .heater or drying means 35 is provided with a usual switch (not shown) so that the heater can be turned on and oif at will. 7

As shown in. the drawing, the drier is located in' close proximity to a platen press and the :pans during their ascending movement pass close to the fly wheel thereof. A bumper or shock absorber 5| receives the impact of each pan after it is released from its tilting position, thereby preventing the pan from striking against the fly wheel. This bumper consists of a strip. of leather 52 of suitable width and disposed vertically in front of the pan adjacent to the point of its release from roller .31. Normally this leather piece is spaced from the path of travel of said pans but is engaged by the pan when the latter is set in swinging motion, upon its release from roller 31. This bumper not only eliminates the striking of the pan against the fly wheel and the consequent noise produced thereby, but also steadies the pan and prevents swinging motion thereof. f r i The strip of leather is supported by the front inwardly bent end 53 of a strip 54 which latter as: I

is secured to the corresponding sideframe l I and v projects forwardly therefrom. An idler 55 is mounted by abolt 56 in member I4 adjacent to each sprocket wheel 25 and 26 Sill so that the chain 21 intermediate said wheels are disposed closer to each other than the diameters of said wheels, thereby bringing pans fl! also closer together. f

Preferably the drying pans are disposed in two vertical tiers, thereby providing a large capacity: with a minimum amount of floor space. The drier is'so constructed that it can be applied to platen printingpresses already installed without requiring rearrangement of the latter or mechanical. changes in the driving mechanism of the press. The spacing and the size or the widths of the pans can be varied to suit the requirements of the particular case.

7 My improved drier can be used in connection with high speed or other cylinder presses equally as well as with platen printing presses. In-such a case it would be preferable to arrange the drier so that the pans would travel in a horizontal, plane and could be used to carry the printed sheets to a folding machine or any othergmachine or could be discharged into a regular paper 7' jogger. As such an arrangement would eliminate time and labor could be effected. The slip sheeting consists in placing a sheet of clear paper on top of a printed sheet so as to separate it from the next sheet and prevent the ink of the underlying printed sheet from adhering to the back of the following sheet. It is especially necessary in high class work, or where a highly finished paper is used. However, it calls for an extra man to slip the sheets as the printed sheets are discharged and it slows down the work of the press.

Furthermore, the slipped sheets have to be removed, thereby requiring additional time and labor. By the use of my drier the expensive slip sheeting is eliminated and the press can be operated at its maximum capacity.

I claim:

A device of the class described comprising in combination a framework support, a plurality of horizontally disposed shafts journaled therein in spaced-apart relation, a pair of sprocket wheels fixed on each shaft, each near each end of said shaft, a pair of endless sprocket chains operating over the corresponding sprocket wheels, a plurality of pans, means for pivotally suspending each pan in a horizontal position from said chains, an arm movably mounted on one side of said framework support near the lower end thereof, a roller journaled on the outer end of said arm, said arm being movable to bring said roller into the path of movement of said pans, whereby 10 roller out of the path of said pans, a downwardly 15 presented electric heater arranged in the upper end of said framework support for drying the material contained in each pan as the latter traverses said upper end, and driving means engaging one of said shafts. 20

HENRY C. HAECKEL. 

